I opened my eyes. I was in my chamber, lying on my comfy bed of leaves. Had the nightly adventures all been a dream? Most likely. Orka had never come to my room and I had not left to help him revive his parents. Yes, it had all been a rather vivid dream.

I noticed a sword perched against the wall. It was the same sword I had used to fight the players.

Dream, eh?

I couldn't help but let delirious sounds out of my mouth, when I realized that there were digital icons about my peripheral vision, like those on a computer screen. There were icons indicating my current health levels, my current stamina and mana levels, weapons and spells I currently possessed (one sword within arm’s reach), and there was also an icon that showed I was currently at level one.

Had I become a player?

But that couldn’t be possible, right? I had not even come into Dharti through a portal. Did the game world somehow turn me into a player? I focused on the icon specifying my current level and I saw a tiny word below it that I had earlier missed.

Level: 1

(Evilun)

So I was an Evilun now?

A sense of dread took over me. The idea of being officially ‘evil’ even in a gameworld was somewhat revolting. Why had Dharti assigned me that status? Was it because of my prolonged association with the race of demons that the Skhites were? I had even helped Orka kill the players.

Just then Nora and Nadir entered the room. They crossed their arms, locking an intense stare at me.

“What?” I asked.

“We didn’t know Orka was your friend,” Nadir said. “Especially such a close friend that you should sneak into the Forbidden Tunnels with him in the dead of night.”

“Well, we are not much like friends,” I replied, “I was just repaying a debt. If not for him and…”

“Lori, his girlfriend,” Nora said. “We know all about them.”

“Yes, her. If not for the two of them I would have lost my way the other day.”

“Look, we are not angry or anything with you,” Nora said, “we just didn’t expect that you would put yourself in danger for somebody like Orka, who is considered an outcast by everyone in the village.”

“He is just misunderstood.” I said. “His parents are the founders of this village. The three of them brought me here, didn’t they?”

“They did,” Nadir said. “They are all currently in King Ishvoor’s chamber. If his parents are really the founders of this village as they claim, then they have every right to be angry with us for not treating Orka well. They were especially furious at Lori’s parents. Though we have heard that Lori’s parents apologized to Orka and are ready to accept him as a son-in-law.”

Later on in the day, I got to know that the village had accepted Orka’s parents—Lelok and Nandini— as the founders, owing to all the proof available. Orka had even taken Ishvoor, the lord of the Skhites to the hidden chamber in which his parents had been concealed in a frozen state for ages.

It was decided that there would be a grand wedding ceremony for Orka and Lori. King Ishvoor, an old celibate monster with a wrinkly face that nevertheless glowed with charisma, told me that he would formally declare me a Skhite on account of the daring assistance I had provided to Orka.

Lelok and Nandini were given large chambers to reside in, and servants were assigned to take care of them. Orka’s parents decided not to interfere with the rule of Ishvoor, but remained as honorary seniors of the village who could be consulted during difficult times.

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The wedding was held outside the village of the Skhites. Normally weddings were held indoors, but this time it was a special marriage and the villagers wanted to make up for their previous rude treatment of Orka. Trees were felled and the ground was cleared. Warriors were placed at strategic locations to watch out for players.

Three luxuriously designed throne-like chairs were placed at the center of the gathering. Orka and Lori sat on one each, while the third was occupied by Lelok and Nandini, who shared the same body. A grand feast was prepared, although Skhite food was not something I found particularly appetizing. They roasted great lumps of deer meat coated thinly with seasoning over multiple fires and distributed these chunks amongst everyone. A little adventurous, I had a small bite. I had to sneak away from the lot and spit it out. Undercooked.

Singing and dancing occupied the day. King Ishvoor declared Orka and Lori husband and wife and bestowed them the right to fuse with each other whenever they saw fit. Ishvoor called me to the midst of everyone.

“My friends,” Ishvoor’s voice loud and firm and reached every Skhite’s ear, “I am sure all of you know Vicky who has been staying with us for a while now. Many of you have had good conversations with him and are acquainted with him as you are with any other member of our beautiful village. It was Vicky who first extended a hand of friendship towards the Skhites the day he saved Nora and Nadir from certain death. He has continued to support us and, as Orka admits, without Vicky’s help, Orka would not have been able to awaken his parents, the original founders of this village of ours. So today, I take the privilege of announcing that Vicky would be more than a friend from now on. He shall be family. He shall be a Skhite!”

The crowd of the green-skinned monsters cheered and clapped. It was a strange moment for me to see all the elated faces of the Skhites. I could not remember any time in the past when such large numbers had applauded me. It was humbling to see the Skhites accept me as one of their own. I was so overwhelmed that my eyes filled up.

“Would you like to say anything?” Ishvoor asked me in a whisper.

“Um,” I addressed the Skhites, “all, I would say is thank you for accepting me. Thank you, this is … a big moment in my life.”

Not a particularly stirring speech but the crowd of Skhites smacked their palms harder anyway, and for the first time in my life I felt like I truly belonged somewhere. Yes, I had held a good job prior to coming to the game world and I had some pretty awesome co-workers. But at the end of the day I had been working the job and going to the office simply because of the money. If they had stopped paying me, I would have left the office without a second thought. My connection with the Skhites however was at a different level altogether.

The celebrations continued for a few hours and it was only at night when I retired to my chamber. Ishvoor had offered me a larger chamber, but I had declined saying I was happy staying next to Nora and Nadir.

But apparently, after yesterday night’s adventure with Orka, the game world of Dharti had no intention of letting me make up for my lost sleep tonight.

It was probably around midnight when the boom of a large explosion yanked me out of my dreams. I scrambled to the door of the chamber in a daze and looked out. I saw Skhites in the corridor who were wearing fear stricken expressions.

Nora and Nadir too came out of their chamber.

“What happened?” Nora said as she rubbed her eyes drowsily.

I shrugged.

“No idea,” I said. Nobody seemed to know either. But in less than a minute, yet another great explosion thundered. The fear made new highs.

Just then a guard came running to the corridor. He was pale and seemed like he had seen Hitler’s ghost. He was so out of breath that for some moments he struggled to get the words out of his mouth even as the Skhite families waited impatiently for him to speak.

“Attacked!” he finally ejaculated. “The village is being attacked! Spread the news everywhere you can!”

“But who is attacking us?” Nadir asked the guard. “Players?”

“No, it’s the Hornies,” the guard answered. “They are shooting cannons at us!”

“Why?” Nadir asked. “The Hornies are Eviluns just like us. Why would they attack us?”

“Look, I don’t know,” the guard said. “But the thing is that they are attacking.” He scurried away to inform Skhites in other tunnels.

“Who are the Hornies?” I asked.

“They are a race of monsters, just like us,” Nora said. “We monsters don’t generally attack each other, and I am confused why they are attacking us now. We even sent gifts to them a couple of months ago. Anyway, stay alert. You never know what’s going to happen next. If they infiltrate the village then it would be a big trouble.”

***

General Information:

Name: Vicky

Affinity/Inclination: Evilun

Level: 1

Health/Strength: 1000/1000

Weapons: One Sword

Stamina:100/100

Mana: 100/100

Spells/Abilities: None